Lusitadischia

Important addition to the prehistoric insects of Portugal: Lusitadischia sai, an Oedischiidae orthopteran from the Upper Carboniferous.

The new taxon is known for a forewing, and its rare fossil demonstrates that the diversity of Portuguese Carboniferous insects has been underestimated due the difficulty in the fossilization and preservation of this type of animal.

It is worth noting that its name is dedicated to the paleontologist Artur Sá, for all his contribution to the field.

The suggested living appearance for the insect is based on the reconstruction from Martynov (1938) of Metoedischia, a contemporaneous close relative of Lusitadischia. I had the pleasure of doing the illustration at the invitation of Pedro Correia for the media coverage of the new research!

Check out the article describing Lusitadischia sai:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08912963.2022.2067760?src=&journalCode=ghbi20